Transporting over long distances?

[Ryujin]

Thanks - learning the rituals would be fine, but I also didn't want this to be something only an epic level character had access to, since it was going to be a PC's relative (which would then lead to, "hey, we're in trouble, let's just go see Uncle Bob... if he has teleport rituals, Raise Dead would be child's play")

Then make it seem more dangerous to ask for the help of this relative, than it seems to be for them to handle things themselves. Perhaps he uses the Shadow Passage ritual, to travel quickly between Crossroads. Not many low level characters would want to jump into the land of the dead.

 

[Nemesis Destiny]

Thanks - learning the rituals would be fine, but I also didn't want this to be something only an epic level character had access to, since it was going to be a PC's relative (which would then lead to, "hey, we're in trouble, let's just go see Uncle Bob... if he has teleport rituals, Raise Dead would be child's play")

Ancient and rare magic items is another fun way to solve this issue. Ancient, rare, and NOT something that the PCs can ever learn to make.

 

[LostSoul]

Thanks - learning the rituals would be fine, but I also didn't want this to be something only an epic level character had access to, since it was going to be a PC's relative (which would then lead to, "hey, we're in trouble, let's just go see Uncle Bob... if he has teleport rituals, Raise Dead would be child's play")

A Sending ritual might work: Uncle Bob casts the ritual to check in with the PCs, and follows up with another one to congratulate them on their victory and tell them to meet him at a scheduled time by a nearby Teleportation Circle.

 

[S'mon]

The nice thing about the Ritual system is it's very easy to make your own. You can create a lower-level "self+25 lb equipment" teleport ritual the NPC has access to, like the old demonic teleport. Restrict the range to what's necessary for you, and make it reasonably expensive if you want the PCs to have access to it.

Personally I just declare that NPC-only rituals take many years of devoted study to master and a suitable conjunction of the planets to use...

 

[Grabuto138]

The nice thing about the Ritual system is it's very easy to make your own. You can create a lower-level "self+25 lb equipment" teleport ritual the NPC has access to, like the old demonic teleport. Restrict the range to what's necessary for you, and make it reasonably expensive if you want the PCs to have access to it.

Personally I just declare that NPC-only rituals take many years of devoted study to master and a suitable conjunction of the planets to use...

This.

I remember, back in the 3e days, conversations on enword along the lines of "I want my bad guy to have a big force field but he is not high enough level for that many Wall of Force and Permenancy spells."

Rituals pretty much brought it back to 1/2e with rules support. A ritual can do anything the plot requires, and it can have whatever limitations the plot needs so that it cannot be exploited. You can require rare components are make the casting time long.

Beyond that, I think Phantom Steed is a useful ritual of only 6th level. Just don't waylay them on the road and they will get there quick enough.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Thanks - learning the rituals would be fine, but I also didn't want this to be something only an epic level character had access to, since it was going to be a PC's relative (which would then lead to, "hey, we're in trouble, let's just go see Uncle Bob... if he has teleport rituals, Raise Dead would be child's play")

That is also simple, the ritual need a staff cut from an ash tree that grows at a crossroads during an eclipse in the shadow of Mt Olympus, so something like that, to activate it.
Residium is all very well for the common or garden magic but the hard stuff requires rare and unsual ingredients. "Tears of a virgin fairy" and that sort of stuff.
In other words let lower level character do epic and paragon level rituals replacing the power of high level character by rare and exotic ingredients.

 

[ppaladin123]

Here is a suggestion: use the ritual, "follow the voice.," and modify it to suit your needs:

Follow the Voice

The rest of the world darkens until the sending stone is all you can see. You pass through a sightless world of echoes and lost voices before you reappear near your stone’s twin.
Component Cost: Focus (sending stones)
Market Price: 9000 gp
Key Skill: Arcana (no check)Level: 16
Category: Travel
Time: 10 minutes
Duration: 1 minute
Before you can use this ritual, a creature must have spoken to you through a sending stone attuned to the stone you use for this ritual.

You fold yourself and each ally you choose who is within 3 squares of you through a sending stone you hold. At the end of the duration, you reappear outside the sending stone attuned to your sending stone. If your stone has multiple attuned stones, you appear outside the one used to speak to your stone before you began the ritual.

Once the ritual’s duration ends, the sending stones cannot serve as the focus for this ritual again for 24 hours, and you cannot cast it again for 24 hours.

If one of your players has an item that was given to her by the NPC relative in question, it could be attuned to that person and can serve as the sending stone for the ritual. The player might not be aware of this, and in the future might use the item to allow short periods of communication.

 

[NewJeffCT]

Here is a suggestion: use the ritual, "follow the voice.," and modify it to suit your needs:



If one of your players has an item that was given to her by the NPC relative in question, it could be attuned to that person and can serve as the sending stone for the ritual. The player might not be aware of this, and in the future might use the item to allow short periods of communication.

as a matter of fact, the relative in question did give an item to the PC in the group...

thanks!

 

[LostSoul]

One other feature of rituals is that ritual scrolls can be used by anyone but they don't allow you to learn the ritual.

You can come up with "game-breaking" rituals as long as they are only available via ritual scroll.